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Saturday, May 9, 2009

Lights, Camera, Action! (or, Playing Jesus)

Last weekend, I had the opportunity to participate in something really moving: a musical called Imagine. Now, I'm not an actor. I never took Drama in school. The closest I ever got to theater was playing in the orchestra for high school musicals (different from High School Musical that your tween knows and loves). I do love music though, and I'm passionate about worship, so I impulsively tried out for a role in our church's spring production.

Imagine is an original musical, written by one of our members, that traces church music back from the very beginning when, Jubal, the father of music, is mentioned in Genesis 4 down to today's contemporary Christian ubiquity. The 60% of our family still living in DC all decided to take part. In fact, we all had to try out -- yes, try out...all of us. The kids tried out for their song-and-dance number first. Addison's done choreographed numbers before, so dancing wasn't a big deal, but singing in front of everyone made her nervous. Brennan on the other hand went up there and belted out a song fairly well for a kid with no training, but then looked like the quintessential football player doing ballet when trying the choreography! It was comical! My audition didn't go so well either; you'd've thought that I got dared into doing "Born to be Wild" at a Karaoke bar. Thankfully, the director was "taking" everyone. We were just trying out for role placement. The next day she called me with my "assignments: Among other things, I got to be...wait for it...Jesus! My heart sank. How can I play Jesus? I mean, He's like...God!

The rehearsals started the next week. That left our weekends in the dust: Every Sunday for 3 hours. Sunday was no longer a day of rest. And, as we got closer to the show, I kept taking on increased responsibility. First, it was leading the chorus during the music portion of the rehearsal. Then, it was helping with the set. Forget a heart transplant. The show must go on -- especially since Cristi was coming to town for the Saturday night performance (we had a wonderful hour-and-a-half together, by the way)!

Actually, helping with the set turned out to be both fun and educational. I showed up and asked how I could help. The next thing I knew, I was climbing 20-foot ladders hanging lights from the ceiling. Yes, Karin had hired someone she knew from local theater that had been doing lighting and sound for 30+ years! I had no idea you actually had to "focus" the lights -- who knew? Who knew I'd have to wear makeup, too? Foundation, blush, lipstick, and a makeup beard! I even learned how to put it on myself (except for the beard part; I had people assigned to dress me in my Jesus garb and do my makeup during quick-change superman drills) and impressed a couple of the teenage girls. Of course, I'm not sure that's a proficiency they should be looking for in a guy...

Finally, after a grueling last week of rehearsals, opening day arrived. I had so much pent-up energy, and despite seeing it several times in rehearsal, I couldn't wait to see how the show "came off". It was a kind of paradox of feeling, actually. I wanted to see the show so that I could imagine what it must have been like to have witnessed all those scenes. Yet, at the same time, it was incumbent upon me and the rest of the cast to bring it to life for the audience -- so that they could imagine!

Well, since many of you couldn't be there, let me walk you through several of the scenes, and let you imagine what it might have been like...

Imagine being in the fields with the boy David as he played with his friends and sang traditional Jewish songs...

Imagine the dedication of Solomon's temple -- all the grandeur of the temple itself and the pomp and circumstance of a dedication ceremony driven by the awe and passion of a people who realized they were taking part, not just in a historical moment, but in a moment that had God's undivided attention...

Imagine the temple being destroyed -- a time of such despondency among the priests and the people that the splendor and orchestral majesty seen in the temple dedication was ordered replaced with monotonic chants...

Imagine Martin Luther telling the people how stupid that was -- that God gave us the gift and beauty of music and that we should use it for His glory...

Imagine Handel writing the Hallelujah Chorus, going several days without food, and then hearing it performed for the very first time...

Imagine slaves singing a spiritual, not only as a cry to God, but also as a call to assembly and escape...

Imagine a white church and a black church in the same town that finally come together, breaking down age-old barriers...

Imagine a large gathering of Christians all lifting their voices together in high-energy praise...

Imagine what Heaven will be like...Imagine all the kids running to Jesus when they see Him for the very first time as all of Heaven sings, "Worthy is the Lamb! Praise the great I AM!"...

Unfortunately, this word picture paints but a fraction of the full canvas, but I hope you could see just momentarily in your mind how powerful some of those moments through the ages must have been (or will be, in the case of Heaven). I'm humbled to have been a part of it -- especially humbled to play the part of Jesus -- one that I'm certainly not worthy of. I have to tell you, though, that it lit up my heart to see all those kids running toward me. Imagine what that will be like...

All good things must come to an end, though. And, after the last show Sunday night, we had to take down the entire set. That was fun in its own right, though. I volunteered to take down lights (since I help put them up). This time, it wasn't the ladder, though. Yep...I got to drive one of those scissors lifts. Drove it all the way from the parking lot, into the church building, and up and down the aisles taking down lights, poles, cords. I felt like a little kid! I mean, who'd'a thunk that you'd get to drive a scissors lift at church?!? I think I need one of those at home!

Later that night, I finally made it home, crawled into bed and went to sleep. It seemed just a short time until the alarm went off for Monday morning. Alas, all good things must come to an end...